September 26, 2014
As time goes on, we find ourselves settling in to life in Madagascar. We worry that we may forget that not everyone has to dodge ox-driven carts and people-pulled carts on every road they drive on! We don’t want to lose track of the wonder of this unique country…but it’s been nearly five months and we find ourselves fitting into the flow of things more and more. While driving still remains a frustrating, challenging experience, we have fewer nail biting experiences and recognize that one does get a “sense” of things as time goes on.
This past week we were very busy as we prepared to move to a new apartment up the hill from where we lived. We were fortunate to be offered the apartment after the Richard’s left, but it has taken several months to get the internet run here. We did not want to move if we could not have adequate internet—it’s our lifeline for sure!! As another Public Relations couple are coming next month, the pressure was on to get everything finished now and get moved prior to their arrival. So it all came together this past week. It was a bigger job than we had anticipated! It was more than just packing up clothes…it also included cupboards, food supplies and the like. We also had to take some time to clean our last apartment. Since we had our daily responsibilities, all this had to be done in the evenings, so we were quite tired by the end of the week.
But we love our new place! It has a great view overlooking the famous “Rova” landmark…high atop the highest hill in Tana. The Rova is the old “Queen’s Palace” from the 1800’s. The inside was pretty much destroyed in a fire about 15 years ago, but the impressive “shell” of the Palace can be seen pretty much all over this capital city. It is beautifully lit up at night and we can see it from all of our windows! We love that! While our last place was cozy and we loved our typical Malagasy neighborhood setting, this place definitely has it’s advantages. One of them is not having to lock and unlock our big gate every time we had to drive in and out! When the rains come I’m sure I will even appreciate it more—I won’t have to get drenched several times a day.
We now have 2 bedrooms and an additional bathroom with a large tub! We are excited for that—i love a tub when I’m cold and Steve loves one when he is sick (thinks it’s a cure for everything!). We actually have a master bathroom and a nice kitchen with granite-like countertops. I hate to give too many details for fear you won’t think we suffer enough in this 3rd world country! haha! If it only had heating and air conditioning, we’d be set!! ha! We do feel blessed with our amazing new accommodations, and fast internet! To celebrate, we had all the couples over last night (p-day) for a few games of UNO and popcorn…it was fun!!
Earlier this week we received a call about 8:30 pm from an elder who, while walking up the tile stairs outside his apartment, tripped and fell with a bottle of Coke in his hand. The bottle shattered and lacerated his eyelid and his eyebrow. They were unsure if they needed stitches or not. Normally, this is not a place you want to go out in at night, but I felt that we needed to go and check out this elder. So off we went. Traffic is much diminished at night, but there are still people walking the streets. There are no street lights, so the winding nature of the unlit roads makes them scary to drive on for fear of not seeing people, etc. It’s also unsafe from a robbery view point. I always pray we won’t have to stop along the way or have car trouble! But, we made it OK. The cut on the elder’s eyelid was small, but pretty deep as was the other cut was in his eyebrow. If we had been in the US, I would have taken him in for stitches. But after the last (less than wonderful) experience with stitches here, I decided to steri-strip them closed and hope for the best. I cleaned the cuts very well and then applied the steri-strips. I was grateful to even have them. I had to buy them once after a procedure another missionary had had. They came in handy! I had to patch his eye to make sure he wasn’t opening and closing it too much until the eyelid could heal. It was one of those interesting calls to the mission nurse!! We made our way home and were so glad for a positive outcome and to get home safely! (BTW; the elder’s eye is healing well…thank goodness!)
We enjoyed a lovely lunch one day with the Bishop and his wife of the Ward we attend. They are wonderful people and treated us to a typical Malagasy meal and it was delicious! We had a shredded carrot salad and a pasta salad to start with. Since she said it was a “simple meal” we thought that was great! So we filled up on the plentiful salads and then she went into the kitchen and brought out a rice (a staple with every meal here), a delicious stewed chicken and garbanza beans with pork! We were already near full, but enjoyed the additional offerings. We find the Malagasy people so kind and generous with what they have! Following lunch we talked about the ward and some of the blessings and challenges there. Unfortunately, due to the overwhelming poverty here, welfare issues are the overriding challenges in every ward or branch. The biggest push and goal for members here is teaching and understanding the concept of self-reliance. The culture is such that many people look for the quickest handout or follow the least line of resistance and live literally from hand to mouth. It is a very large obstacle that needs constant addressing. The church has recently hired a full-time employee to help with the self-reliance program. We sure hope it helps. We know from talking with many young people that the concept of planning, saving and doing what one can to get ahead is not on the radar. They typically spend everything they have in short order, and always have great need by the end of every month. We hope to continue to help teach principles of planning and self-reliance, too, within our scope of influence. In any case, our bishop is wonderful and has a maturity and understanding beyond most of the leaders in these, the relatively early years of the church here. He is a gem!!
I also wanted to share a touching story about our counselor in the mission presidency. It is a touching story that has taught me so much in terms of faith and “being an example of the believers”. I think I wrote about President Lalary losing his little 6 week old baby to a respiratory infection. Well, I’d like to share ‘the rest of the story’. As the story of his little baby, London, unfolded, we found out that when he was in the hospital struggling the breathe, the hospital only had one nebulizer machine in which to administer the life saving respiratory medications. This one machine had to be shared among all the sick babies. The parents literally ran the machine to their child just as soon as the previous baby was finished with it. It became an impossible situation and baby London could not get all the medication and attention he needed to survive this ordeal. I remember the heart wrenching but beautiful words Lalary wrote on FB to announce the passing of his little baby boy. He wrote, “With firm testimony of Jesus Christ and belief that we are a forever family that we announce with regret the passing of our beloved son ZIVA London Jairus.” President Lalary could have been angry or bitter, but he was amazing! Although it was a very sad event, they displayed exemplary faith and helped those around them (many non-members) to see and feel the hope for the eternities.
But it didn't stop there. A week following the funeral, president Lalary put out a plea to everyone he knew to raise funds to purchase more nebulizers for the hospital where his son had been. The machines were only about $85.00 (which is a lot for Malagasies), but many people chipped in and they were able to purchase 6 new machines (exceeding their original goal of 3 machines) for the hospital. He did this in the hope that fewer babies would have to die in the future. They delivered the machines this week and they brought their other two little boys to present the gifts. They called it "London's gift". I think this is such an amazing example of faith and forgiveness. The head of the hospital, who accepted the gifts, said he was also touched by this family's example. He said many people would be bitter and blame the hospital and doctors, but this family turned a sad event into something positive. I couldn't help but think of the amazing example the parents were to their other children. They involved them in learning a valuable lesson of grace and forgiveness; in bringing light into an otherwise tragic event.
I love and appreciate President Lalary’s example to me and to all those around him. His example makes me want to be a better person!
We have another big week coming up with 17 new missionaries joining us. This is always an exciting time and we usually don’t get quite so many at one time. But with new missionaries come a sense of excitement and enthusiasm that we all enjoy. It’s busy with making extra food and several training sessions, but it’s wonderful. Steve and I are involved in the training as I do the health orientation (there’s lots to learn about staying healthy here), and Steve trains on the bikes maintenance program and emergency preparedness. We enjoy being involved and ‘anxiously engaged!’
One last word before I close. We received a very thoughtful and sweet note from one of our missionaries last week. We have had time to get to know him quite well as we have shuttled his new Malagasy companion back and forth to the dentist for extensive dental work. This sweet missionary told us how appreciative he was of us and the talks we have had. Apparently some of the things we shared really buoyed him up at a challenging time in his mission. It really made us feel so good and happy that we were here and that we helped someone out. Of course, it is always our great desire to be of service wherever we can and one of the motivating factors for our serving was to kind of “pay forward” the kindnesses showed by the senior couples who had such a positive impact on our sons while they served. So, needless to say, we appreciated his sweet note more than you know!
Lots to love to all—
The Rossiters
Random thoughts/ observations:
Joy in finding “Cadbury” chocolate bars..expensive, but HEAVENLY!! (I told Steve we really shouldn’t spend $20..00/ week in chocolate bars…but then on the other hand, why not?!? ha ha!!) They are our one big indulgence in an otherwise unfamiliar world! We are petrified they will quit selling them, so we make sure we are stocked at all times..mint chocolate being our favorite!
Seriously, having just one Wendy’s here (not to mention a Cafe Rio) would enhance our lives so much! While there are food stands everywhere, they are unsafe to eat at…sometimes we just need to grab a quick bite to eat, but that’s impossible!
If you see something in the grocery store that you like, you grab lots of it…the next time you go they may be out of it, or you may never see it again!
I miss brown sugar for baking, regular mustard (they have lots of Dijon, but no yellow mustard), and I crave hot dogs….go figure…didn’t even eat them much at home…ha!
Most all the stairs here are uneven in height. They will range from 8-12 inches or more. It really throws off one’s rhythm when climbing or descending stairs…bet you’ve never thought about it before! Oh the things we take for granted!!
I’m in awe of how the women carry things on their heads…mostly with no hands!!
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
10,500 Miles from Home
September 4, 2014
Dearest family and friends,
We find the days fly quickly by and it's hard to keep up with the accounting of them! I started this letter last Thursday, but I'm going to send it anyway, so just pretend this was last week! ha! 8/28/14: Today we find ourselves once again in Tamatave, a city about 7-8 hours north-east of Tana. This is the town filled with bicycle driven pousse-pousses...the local taxis! It really makes driving very difficult when the pousse-pousses are 3-4 deep on each side of the street and they dart in and out of each other without looking. Compound this with motor scooters, trucks and cars, people, chickens, goats and dogs, and you have a big traffic mess. It's a real feat to even get a 1/2 a mile down the road without hitting something...I told Steve I draw the line at hitting people (but I've had to ease up on the battle not to hit side mirrors! Ha!) We have come up to bring new bicycles to the area for the new missionaries. Steve is also setting up another routine maintenance program with a local Malagasy bike repairman, who happens to also be one of the Branch clerks here. I love it when we can provide business to members who are qualified to do it! Since Tamatave is a coastal town, the bikes take a real beating from the salty air, sand, and horrific pot holes that ravage the city. We are hoping that by getting someone on board to routinely tune up and maintain the bikes on a monthly basis, we can have fewer mechanical problems. When the bikes are down, the missionaries can't get out as easily to do their work. Steve is currently in a little shop with our repairman, buying parts, and I am out in the car writing this note. It's overcast but warm today and I am surrounded by the sites and sounds of Tamatave...people's voices, motorbikes passing, the sound of bicycle bells, children laughing and the periodic Muslim 'call to prayer' which is broadcast throughout the area on a loud speaker from the local mosque. The street is lined with tiny 'lean-to' type shops selling everything from bike parts to electrical parts, to plastic containers, to clothes interspersed with a myriad of little food stands. There's also the ever prevalent little orange stands selling phone minutes...typical life in Madagascar. One difference here is the clothing. Since it's usually quite hot here, most people are in shorts, t-shirts or wrapped in a 'lamba', which is a colorfully printed piece of thin cloth, much like a Polynesian LavaLava. Many women just wrap this around themselves and tuck or tie it in the front. It's cool and comfortable. Bare feet and flip flops abound. Luckily we are just coming into Spring and because it is cloudy today, it is not too hot...yet! I can feel the humidity, and I'm grateful the heat hasn't set in all the way.
Because the town has salty air, many of the buildings are run down and oxidized, or just abandoned, or perhaps never even finished...one just doesn't know. But in either case sometimes I get the feeling I'm witnessing a bombed out WWII town, where life has just gone on around the destruction. There is a beach that runs down the main part of town and it's fun to see the ocean and accompanying palm trees for a change from city life. This was one of Brad's favorite areas to work in when he served here. We appreciate the change of climate and scenery!
We are also here to check on the cleanliness status of the missionary apartments and Steve is installing new smoke and CO detectors in them. We feel fortunate that we do not have much CO risk in this mission as all the heaters and dryers, etc. are electric (plus, they don't even need heaters in Tamatave), but we always want to be on the safe side...especially since hearing of the two missionaries who lost their lives in Taiwan from CO poisoning. We have been working on this project for a few months and were unable to find CO detectors in Mada. Last week an Elder's dad came to pick him up and brought some detectors for us from the States. We are grateful!
Two Sunday's ago we were able to join the Mission President, the assistants and the other senior couples, for a drive to Moramonga and attend church there. This is a little town about 2 hours outside of Tana. A branch had been started here several years ago, but new church directives called for using the missionaries in "centers of strength" and the mission has been unable to place missionaries here for some time. The wonderful thing is, this little group has bonded together and they plug away as best they can. There are some wonderfully faithful members here with a fantastic group leader who monthly drives to Tana to pay the tithes and offerings for this sweet group of Saints. When we arrived, they treated us like royalty. They love to shake everyone's hands and the women often greet with cheek to cheek "kisses" (3 'cheek to cheek' air kisses--think Europe here). During the meeting, the MP announced that a few of the senior couples would be sharing their testimonies...wouldn't you know, I was one of them!?! My heart started racing as I tried to think of something worthwhile to say, then quickly decide whetherI could say it in Malagasy?!? I knew I couldn't speak very eloquently in Malagasy and had a quick debate in my mind whether to share a simple testimony in their language, or have deeper thoughts translated by the missionaries. I decided on the former, and with shaky knees (only in front of a group of 58 people), and a prayer in my heart, I bore my testimony and shared a few simple thoughts in Malagasy. I know it was far from perfect grammar or pronunciation, but they seemed to understand and appreciated my wobbly efforts. That's one thing about the Malagasy people that I absolutely LOVE...they really do try to help you with the language and are so appreciative of any effort you make to speak Malagasy. I loved looking into their faces and speaking to them, heart to heart, and spirit to spirit. I was well rewarded for my efforts and it only strengthened my desire to study harder and get better at this language. It's difficult when you don't get the opportunity to speak it all day as we are often at the mission home, or working on things that don't require constant interaction with Malagasy people. So, I know mastering this language won't be a quick process, but I'm determined to give it my best shot (did I say, "mastering" this language...I mean "bungling through" this language (haha!). During Sunday School, Steve and I joined the missionaries in a discussion with some investigators. We love it when we get the opportunity to share gospel basics along with the missionaries. After church, we stopped by a beautiful river to eat the lunches we had brought for the journey. It was a lovely and rewarding day, and a highlight for the week!
This past week was beyond busy as the mission prepared to welcome 14 new missionaries on Wednesday, followed by a mission tour with Elder Hamilton of the 2nd Quorum of the Seventy. I was busily putting a power point presentation together on staying healthy in the mission, as I do this for all new missionaries and I wanted to standardize the presentation. In the middle if all the preparations, Steve got terribly ill. He had body aches, 102 fever, terrible diarrhea and vomiting...the dreaded Madagascar intestinal bacteria! By the second day of extreme illness, I took him up to the hospital for cultures and to rule out Malaria ( a long shot in the area we live in, but standard procedure when someone runs a fairly high fever for more than 2 days here). It was negative but the stools looked bad so we got him on a couple of antibiotics. Fortunately by the next day he was feeling better...finally! It was a rough one! He was well enough to join us for the area Mission conference with the Hamiltons on Saturday. It was a wonderful and uplifting conference and a treat to be taught by a general authority. He spoke a lot about how to use questions in teaching and did a bit of role play with all the missionaries. He is a very skilled teacher, but I guess I wouldn't expect any less from a leader of his caliber! Following the conference, and an adult meeting with the members after which the senior couples hosted a dinner for the Hamiltons. We did a "Cafe Rio"esque' meal, Malagasy style (aka: lots of substitutions! Ha!) and it was wonderful. Another full, but rewarding day.
I should mention, however, that the morning of the conference my office was inundated with Elders with one one problem or another...once again the ever present ingrown toenail issue, headaches, allergies, diarrhea and the like. One Elder, however, had sliced his index and middle finger pretty substantially the night before while cutting bread. He had me look at the cut before the meeting started. Part of it was pretty deep, so I hauled him down to local Malagasy clinic for suturing. This happened just after I had already helped a visiting dentist who had come to present at a local dental convention and to bring dental supplies for several orphanages in Mada. While on his trip up to Tamatave, he stopped at a lemur park. While there, he had fallen and lacerated his elbow. He tried to wash it best he could with soap and water and wrapped it in toilet paper, but by the time he got back to Tana, 36 hours later, he had a full blown cellulitis in his arm. I was helping to soak and dress his wound and got him started on antibiotics, but it was so red and swollen, I was terribly worried about him. In any case, after the suture job on the other elder, which I won't go in to detail on, we were a few minutes late for the Zone conference. But all's well that ends well, right?
The visiting dentist's arm continued to get worse, so I finally took him into the ER and got some different antibiotics. Thankfully that did the trick and he finally started to get better. In the US, they would have put him on IV antibiotics! It's difficult for me sometimes to find the equivalent antibiotics here as the names are different or they don't exist...and when I can find them everything is written in French. I'm catching on to what I need to do and know, however, and feeling more comfortable. I'm grateful for the support of the Area Medical Advisor (Doctor) in South Africa with whom I can consult on difficult cases. Frequently I'm reminded that, "I'm not in Kansas anymore"! Ha!
Let me tell you about our first significant truck mishap...not to mention the minor fender bumps and scratches that have already occurred....oops!! Anyway, Steve was trying to turn our "most difficult to turn" truck around in the middle of traffic on a narrow two lane road in Tamatave. He really needed to make a 3 -point turn, but felt the pressure of lots of traffic waiting for him, so he just did a a two point turn. Just a as he went to finish the turn, I saw a piece of meta sticking up on the side walk and it popped our tire! UGH!! There we were, stuck on the side of a busy narrow street, in about 2" of soft, reddish dirt, without one thought about how to proceed to change the tire in the middle of things. There was Steve in his white shirt, tie and slacks and with little knowledge of the spare in this truck. We were painfully aware of our limited language (like the word for "tire", "jack", etc.). We were about to try and find a gas station or someone to pay to help us, or something..we didn't quite know what, when up rides a man on a scooter. Soon after another man stopped. With no words from us, except 'thank you', the two men went to work. They knew exactly where the jack was ( behind the back seat, thank you very much, who knew?!?), how to get the spare from under the truck; one found two rocks to chock the back tire and went to work. In abut 10 minutes they had the flat tire fixed, the old one in the back of the truck and the jack safely tucked back away! You can't imagine our relief! We felt very blessed, indeed! We gave them each 5,000 Arirary (about $2.00)and they were happy as clams (you have to remember an average wage here is about$60.00 per month; so making a day's wage for 10 minutes work was pretty good!)...needless to say we were so relieved and thankful. We were impressed with the kindheartedness of two strangers who, without hesitation or fanfare, jumped in to help two stranded foreigners. We felt they were heaven-sent!
Before I close this lengthy missive, I would like to share a sweet experience I had last Sunday. We had to drive about 8 hours back home from Tamatave on Sunday so we went to an 8:00 AM Sacrament meeting in order to get an early start (one really does NOT want to be on the windy, unlit roads after dark). This 8:00 am branch (there are 5 branches in Tamatave) meets in a large, white, old French 'villa' of sorts. The bottom floor, where they have the largest gathering area, is for Sacrament Meeting.The floors are concrete and the chairs are stacking chairs placed in rows. There is a wooden stand and podium at the front of the room, with 2 large vases of plastic flowers adorning the fronts of floor speakers which stand on either side of the podium. The thing that really touched my heart that day and was truly a 'tender mercy' to me, occurred during the Sacrament. While we sang the Sacrament Hymn, I glanced over at the priests who were preparing the Sacrament. They were doing so with such humility and care. The white cloth covering the emblems of the sacrament was deliberately and reverently folded back. When it came time to bless the broken pieces of french bread (the most commonly found bread here in Mada), I watched as one of the young priests knelt down upon a small, plastic covered pillow on the concrete floor. He humbly blessed it, repeating carefully the sacrament prayer in Malagasy. The young deacons stood like a little army at attention, but with heads bowed and arms tucked behind them, wearing white shirts and ties, while the sacrament prayer was recited. I don't know why this scene touched my heart so, but the tears started to roll down my cheeks. I thought of our Savior and what He might be thinking as he looked over this little congregation, gathering in an obscure little building in far off Madagascar, to humbly bless and pass the emblems of His sacrifice; His atonement, for all mankind. A sweet and emotion filled feeling spread throughout my body. I knew that He was pleased with what He saw. I knew that He was aware of this beautiful group of faithful saints who had gathered in humble circumstances to honor and obey Him, to make and keep sacred covenants and commitments. I knew that He loved them; as my love for them was filled to overflowing. I had a thought that our eternal salvation is a very individual thing. It is up to us, no matter our race, culture, or circumstance, to develop a personal relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is up to us to work out our own salvation. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that we are all on an "equal playing field" if you will, when it comes to the work of salvation. Each of us must be committed to keep the commandments, to strive to become more like our Savior, and to love and serve our fellowmen. These commandments can be lived be everyone...EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE.. I felt it a privilege to worship with my Malagasy brothers and sisters that day and catch a glimpse of God's love for them, for me, and for each of us. I want to remember that precious moment as it reminds me of my responsibility to strive to be better, more patient, worshipful, obedient; a better disciple of Jesus Christ. I'm grateful to serve here, for the lessons I can learn, and hopefully, the service I can render.
Steve and I love this opportunity to serve as missionary companions. We laugh together, sometimes shed a tear or two (OK--probably more tears on my side), but overall love sharing our mutual experiences while living and serving here in Madagascar for a season. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all!
With love,
Steve and Michele
PS. Thank you to those who have e-mailed us…we appreciate it more than you know. We love knowing what’s happening with you and yours. God Bless!!
Dearest family and friends,
We find the days fly quickly by and it's hard to keep up with the accounting of them! I started this letter last Thursday, but I'm going to send it anyway, so just pretend this was last week! ha! 8/28/14: Today we find ourselves once again in Tamatave, a city about 7-8 hours north-east of Tana. This is the town filled with bicycle driven pousse-pousses...the local taxis! It really makes driving very difficult when the pousse-pousses are 3-4 deep on each side of the street and they dart in and out of each other without looking. Compound this with motor scooters, trucks and cars, people, chickens, goats and dogs, and you have a big traffic mess. It's a real feat to even get a 1/2 a mile down the road without hitting something...I told Steve I draw the line at hitting people (but I've had to ease up on the battle not to hit side mirrors! Ha!) We have come up to bring new bicycles to the area for the new missionaries. Steve is also setting up another routine maintenance program with a local Malagasy bike repairman, who happens to also be one of the Branch clerks here. I love it when we can provide business to members who are qualified to do it! Since Tamatave is a coastal town, the bikes take a real beating from the salty air, sand, and horrific pot holes that ravage the city. We are hoping that by getting someone on board to routinely tune up and maintain the bikes on a monthly basis, we can have fewer mechanical problems. When the bikes are down, the missionaries can't get out as easily to do their work. Steve is currently in a little shop with our repairman, buying parts, and I am out in the car writing this note. It's overcast but warm today and I am surrounded by the sites and sounds of Tamatave...people's voices, motorbikes passing, the sound of bicycle bells, children laughing and the periodic Muslim 'call to prayer' which is broadcast throughout the area on a loud speaker from the local mosque. The street is lined with tiny 'lean-to' type shops selling everything from bike parts to electrical parts, to plastic containers, to clothes interspersed with a myriad of little food stands. There's also the ever prevalent little orange stands selling phone minutes...typical life in Madagascar. One difference here is the clothing. Since it's usually quite hot here, most people are in shorts, t-shirts or wrapped in a 'lamba', which is a colorfully printed piece of thin cloth, much like a Polynesian LavaLava. Many women just wrap this around themselves and tuck or tie it in the front. It's cool and comfortable. Bare feet and flip flops abound. Luckily we are just coming into Spring and because it is cloudy today, it is not too hot...yet! I can feel the humidity, and I'm grateful the heat hasn't set in all the way.
Because the town has salty air, many of the buildings are run down and oxidized, or just abandoned, or perhaps never even finished...one just doesn't know. But in either case sometimes I get the feeling I'm witnessing a bombed out WWII town, where life has just gone on around the destruction. There is a beach that runs down the main part of town and it's fun to see the ocean and accompanying palm trees for a change from city life. This was one of Brad's favorite areas to work in when he served here. We appreciate the change of climate and scenery!
We are also here to check on the cleanliness status of the missionary apartments and Steve is installing new smoke and CO detectors in them. We feel fortunate that we do not have much CO risk in this mission as all the heaters and dryers, etc. are electric (plus, they don't even need heaters in Tamatave), but we always want to be on the safe side...especially since hearing of the two missionaries who lost their lives in Taiwan from CO poisoning. We have been working on this project for a few months and were unable to find CO detectors in Mada. Last week an Elder's dad came to pick him up and brought some detectors for us from the States. We are grateful!
Two Sunday's ago we were able to join the Mission President, the assistants and the other senior couples, for a drive to Moramonga and attend church there. This is a little town about 2 hours outside of Tana. A branch had been started here several years ago, but new church directives called for using the missionaries in "centers of strength" and the mission has been unable to place missionaries here for some time. The wonderful thing is, this little group has bonded together and they plug away as best they can. There are some wonderfully faithful members here with a fantastic group leader who monthly drives to Tana to pay the tithes and offerings for this sweet group of Saints. When we arrived, they treated us like royalty. They love to shake everyone's hands and the women often greet with cheek to cheek "kisses" (3 'cheek to cheek' air kisses--think Europe here). During the meeting, the MP announced that a few of the senior couples would be sharing their testimonies...wouldn't you know, I was one of them!?! My heart started racing as I tried to think of something worthwhile to say, then quickly decide whetherI could say it in Malagasy?!? I knew I couldn't speak very eloquently in Malagasy and had a quick debate in my mind whether to share a simple testimony in their language, or have deeper thoughts translated by the missionaries. I decided on the former, and with shaky knees (only in front of a group of 58 people), and a prayer in my heart, I bore my testimony and shared a few simple thoughts in Malagasy. I know it was far from perfect grammar or pronunciation, but they seemed to understand and appreciated my wobbly efforts. That's one thing about the Malagasy people that I absolutely LOVE...they really do try to help you with the language and are so appreciative of any effort you make to speak Malagasy. I loved looking into their faces and speaking to them, heart to heart, and spirit to spirit. I was well rewarded for my efforts and it only strengthened my desire to study harder and get better at this language. It's difficult when you don't get the opportunity to speak it all day as we are often at the mission home, or working on things that don't require constant interaction with Malagasy people. So, I know mastering this language won't be a quick process, but I'm determined to give it my best shot (did I say, "mastering" this language...I mean "bungling through" this language (haha!). During Sunday School, Steve and I joined the missionaries in a discussion with some investigators. We love it when we get the opportunity to share gospel basics along with the missionaries. After church, we stopped by a beautiful river to eat the lunches we had brought for the journey. It was a lovely and rewarding day, and a highlight for the week!
This past week was beyond busy as the mission prepared to welcome 14 new missionaries on Wednesday, followed by a mission tour with Elder Hamilton of the 2nd Quorum of the Seventy. I was busily putting a power point presentation together on staying healthy in the mission, as I do this for all new missionaries and I wanted to standardize the presentation. In the middle if all the preparations, Steve got terribly ill. He had body aches, 102 fever, terrible diarrhea and vomiting...the dreaded Madagascar intestinal bacteria! By the second day of extreme illness, I took him up to the hospital for cultures and to rule out Malaria ( a long shot in the area we live in, but standard procedure when someone runs a fairly high fever for more than 2 days here). It was negative but the stools looked bad so we got him on a couple of antibiotics. Fortunately by the next day he was feeling better...finally! It was a rough one! He was well enough to join us for the area Mission conference with the Hamiltons on Saturday. It was a wonderful and uplifting conference and a treat to be taught by a general authority. He spoke a lot about how to use questions in teaching and did a bit of role play with all the missionaries. He is a very skilled teacher, but I guess I wouldn't expect any less from a leader of his caliber! Following the conference, and an adult meeting with the members after which the senior couples hosted a dinner for the Hamiltons. We did a "Cafe Rio"esque' meal, Malagasy style (aka: lots of substitutions! Ha!) and it was wonderful. Another full, but rewarding day.
I should mention, however, that the morning of the conference my office was inundated with Elders with one one problem or another...once again the ever present ingrown toenail issue, headaches, allergies, diarrhea and the like. One Elder, however, had sliced his index and middle finger pretty substantially the night before while cutting bread. He had me look at the cut before the meeting started. Part of it was pretty deep, so I hauled him down to local Malagasy clinic for suturing. This happened just after I had already helped a visiting dentist who had come to present at a local dental convention and to bring dental supplies for several orphanages in Mada. While on his trip up to Tamatave, he stopped at a lemur park. While there, he had fallen and lacerated his elbow. He tried to wash it best he could with soap and water and wrapped it in toilet paper, but by the time he got back to Tana, 36 hours later, he had a full blown cellulitis in his arm. I was helping to soak and dress his wound and got him started on antibiotics, but it was so red and swollen, I was terribly worried about him. In any case, after the suture job on the other elder, which I won't go in to detail on, we were a few minutes late for the Zone conference. But all's well that ends well, right?
The visiting dentist's arm continued to get worse, so I finally took him into the ER and got some different antibiotics. Thankfully that did the trick and he finally started to get better. In the US, they would have put him on IV antibiotics! It's difficult for me sometimes to find the equivalent antibiotics here as the names are different or they don't exist...and when I can find them everything is written in French. I'm catching on to what I need to do and know, however, and feeling more comfortable. I'm grateful for the support of the Area Medical Advisor (Doctor) in South Africa with whom I can consult on difficult cases. Frequently I'm reminded that, "I'm not in Kansas anymore"! Ha!
Let me tell you about our first significant truck mishap...not to mention the minor fender bumps and scratches that have already occurred....oops!! Anyway, Steve was trying to turn our "most difficult to turn" truck around in the middle of traffic on a narrow two lane road in Tamatave. He really needed to make a 3 -point turn, but felt the pressure of lots of traffic waiting for him, so he just did a a two point turn. Just a as he went to finish the turn, I saw a piece of meta sticking up on the side walk and it popped our tire! UGH!! There we were, stuck on the side of a busy narrow street, in about 2" of soft, reddish dirt, without one thought about how to proceed to change the tire in the middle of things. There was Steve in his white shirt, tie and slacks and with little knowledge of the spare in this truck. We were painfully aware of our limited language (like the word for "tire", "jack", etc.). We were about to try and find a gas station or someone to pay to help us, or something..we didn't quite know what, when up rides a man on a scooter. Soon after another man stopped. With no words from us, except 'thank you', the two men went to work. They knew exactly where the jack was ( behind the back seat, thank you very much, who knew?!?), how to get the spare from under the truck; one found two rocks to chock the back tire and went to work. In abut 10 minutes they had the flat tire fixed, the old one in the back of the truck and the jack safely tucked back away! You can't imagine our relief! We felt very blessed, indeed! We gave them each 5,000 Arirary (about $2.00)and they were happy as clams (you have to remember an average wage here is about$60.00 per month; so making a day's wage for 10 minutes work was pretty good!)...needless to say we were so relieved and thankful. We were impressed with the kindheartedness of two strangers who, without hesitation or fanfare, jumped in to help two stranded foreigners. We felt they were heaven-sent!
Before I close this lengthy missive, I would like to share a sweet experience I had last Sunday. We had to drive about 8 hours back home from Tamatave on Sunday so we went to an 8:00 AM Sacrament meeting in order to get an early start (one really does NOT want to be on the windy, unlit roads after dark). This 8:00 am branch (there are 5 branches in Tamatave) meets in a large, white, old French 'villa' of sorts. The bottom floor, where they have the largest gathering area, is for Sacrament Meeting.The floors are concrete and the chairs are stacking chairs placed in rows. There is a wooden stand and podium at the front of the room, with 2 large vases of plastic flowers adorning the fronts of floor speakers which stand on either side of the podium. The thing that really touched my heart that day and was truly a 'tender mercy' to me, occurred during the Sacrament. While we sang the Sacrament Hymn, I glanced over at the priests who were preparing the Sacrament. They were doing so with such humility and care. The white cloth covering the emblems of the sacrament was deliberately and reverently folded back. When it came time to bless the broken pieces of french bread (the most commonly found bread here in Mada), I watched as one of the young priests knelt down upon a small, plastic covered pillow on the concrete floor. He humbly blessed it, repeating carefully the sacrament prayer in Malagasy. The young deacons stood like a little army at attention, but with heads bowed and arms tucked behind them, wearing white shirts and ties, while the sacrament prayer was recited. I don't know why this scene touched my heart so, but the tears started to roll down my cheeks. I thought of our Savior and what He might be thinking as he looked over this little congregation, gathering in an obscure little building in far off Madagascar, to humbly bless and pass the emblems of His sacrifice; His atonement, for all mankind. A sweet and emotion filled feeling spread throughout my body. I knew that He was pleased with what He saw. I knew that He was aware of this beautiful group of faithful saints who had gathered in humble circumstances to honor and obey Him, to make and keep sacred covenants and commitments. I knew that He loved them; as my love for them was filled to overflowing. I had a thought that our eternal salvation is a very individual thing. It is up to us, no matter our race, culture, or circumstance, to develop a personal relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is up to us to work out our own salvation. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that we are all on an "equal playing field" if you will, when it comes to the work of salvation. Each of us must be committed to keep the commandments, to strive to become more like our Savior, and to love and serve our fellowmen. These commandments can be lived be everyone...EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE.. I felt it a privilege to worship with my Malagasy brothers and sisters that day and catch a glimpse of God's love for them, for me, and for each of us. I want to remember that precious moment as it reminds me of my responsibility to strive to be better, more patient, worshipful, obedient; a better disciple of Jesus Christ. I'm grateful to serve here, for the lessons I can learn, and hopefully, the service I can render.
Steve and I love this opportunity to serve as missionary companions. We laugh together, sometimes shed a tear or two (OK--probably more tears on my side), but overall love sharing our mutual experiences while living and serving here in Madagascar for a season. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all!
With love,
Steve and Michele
PS. Thank you to those who have e-mailed us…we appreciate it more than you know. We love knowing what’s happening with you and yours. God Bless!!
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